By: by Jason Hanes
KENNESAW, Ga. - Sametria Gideon scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team roared back from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Lipscomb, 68-58, Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action.
"We had a great second half," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "We were down 12 at the half and went in the locer room and made some key changes. We came out in the first 10 minutes of the second half and set the tempo for the rest of the game."
KSU (9-18, 6-13) held Lipscomb scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half, scoring the first nine points of the frame in the process. After a Lipscomb 3-pointer, KSU scored the next six points of the frame to take a, 41-40, lead, the first advantage of the ball game for the Lady Owls.
Lipscomb would tie the score with a free-throw, but KSU would continue to set the pace. A 10-2 spurt gave the Lady Owls an eight-point advantage, capped by a lay-up by Chelcey Farrar to make the score 51-43.
The Lady Bisons (8-19, 5-14) would storm back with eight staight points to tie the score, 51-51. That would prove to be the final tie of the game as KSU scored seven straight points on the back of Gideon. Three key rebounds during the spurt sent the Lady Owls to a, 58-51 advantage, and Lipscomb would never come closer than five the rest of the game.
"This was a hard week," said Gideon. "We lost a close friend of the team. We went into the locker room with our heads down, but we came out with the attitude that he wouldn't want us to play like that. We came out after halftime with our heads up and won the game for him."
Gideon's 22 rebounds is the highest this season in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The total was also a new record for Kennesaw State at a Division I level.
Angie Smith joined Gideon with 14 points to lead KSU. Farrar added 13 points, while Christie Leverette scored 10 and Lisa Capellan added nine, including her first career 3-pointer.
Valerie Bronson scored 17 points for the Lady Bisons, who were held to just 21 points in the second half. Anna Bowers scored 14 while Jenna Bartsokas added 11.
The Lady Owls will close out the Atlantic Sun Conference portion of their season this Saturday at Noon when they take on Belmont at the KSU Convocation Center.
